Johnson claims second Daytona 500; Patrick finishes eighth

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson sprays champagne as he and his team celebrate winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer

By Bill Huneke
For The Times

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Hendrick Motorsports team showed that depth and experience at the Daytona 500 is more important than hype and headlines, dashing the dreams of Danica Patrick fans right from the start, and then ending it with an exclamation mark as it got Jimmie Johnson his second win in the Great American Race today.

Patrick, the much-hyped polesitter and first female to win a NASCAR pole, lost the lead by the first turn of the first lap to Hendrick Racing driver Jeff Gordon, adding a quick reality check to the race. Johnson then ran a steady race, taking the lead for the fourth and final time on lap 191 of the 200-lap event, and positioned himself perfectly for his 61st career win in his 400th start.

“Plate racing is a tough form, and there’s a lot of luck involved,” said Johnson. “With pack racing, you can’t just ride and wait for things to happen,; you have to race all day long and fight for track position. (Crew chief) Chad Knaus and Hendrick gave me a great car and I could really stay up front all day I had a lot of confidence in the last few laps leading the train. I knew how fast that car was. The speed in this car really allowed me to control the race late. This was the car we wanted to get into the 500. It was just the best car for us.”

“As you know, I eat, sleep and breathe the 48”, said Knaus. “To come here and win and be a part of it is a dream come true. When I wasn’t here for Jimmie’s first win, I think that experience energized this team and really brought it together. But yes, I’m thrilled to be part of it. I put in one day of 38 hours straight and worked on this car for 35 straight days.”

Knaus was under a NASCAR suspension for Johnson’s first Daytona win.

Although Johnson led only 17 laps, he was in the top 10 at every 10-lap mark. Gordon led 31 laps and ran strong until the end, when he faded to a 20th- place finish. “I love the start we got, but later we lost track position and those last two restarts just didn’t go very well” said Gordon.

The race ended with a six-lap shootout after a final debris caution. Johnson had the lead on the restart and the drivers behind him tried setting up a final pass, but Johnson used the outside lane, which had been the stronger one all week, to beat Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“I kept backing up, backing up, trying to create a gap so me and Mark (Martin) could take off,” explained Earnhardt, who took second for the third time in the last four 500s. “We got a run on Danica but once we got to Turn Four we just kind of ran out of steam and couldn’t get a run on Jimmie. We’re still figuring out these new cars and with a few little changes they’ll be really good. This was like old style racing here from 10 years ago.”

Martin, the 54-year old driver making his 29th start in the 500, said “We had a shot with two laps to go. Maybe if they shuffled differently it would have ended better, but Brad (Keselowski) was just too far behind me to give me the shove I needed. I can’t believe these guys let me drive their car. What we wanted to do was be in the middle of it with two laps to go, and there we were.”

Defending NASCAR champion Keselowski was caught up in an ealier accident and finished with tape all over the front of his Miller Lite Ford, the first year the Penske team is running Fords after Dodge dropped out of NASCAR.

“I needed to get a push from Hamlin but that lane got stalled at the end,” said Keselowski, who recovered from the accident to finish fourth. “ It didn’t help when that last yellow came out. We were just about to pass Jimmie but got caught back in second. He was an inch in front when the yellow came out but that gave him the high line on the restart and we just weren’t strong enough to hold our own on the bottom.”

Patrick entered the last lap in third, but finished eighth, and admitted that her inexperience and lack of a real game plan may have hurt her.

“It was a steady day. It was nice to get to lead laps, even thought I thought I’d get to lead at the start,” she said. ‘‘I didn’t really try passing much all day, just kept running steady. The inside line was strong, but when Jimmie got into the outside lane, he was gone. I kept thinking all day, what am I going to do? I felt uncertain about that and maybe that’s what cost me at the end.“

Patrick led a total of five laps, becoming the first woman to lead green flag laps in the 500 and the highest-finishing female driver.